Senator the Hon Concetta Fierravanti-Wells

Australian Statement to Special Session on People with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action World Humanitarian Summit

Speech, E&OE

Istanbul, Turkey

23 May 2016

Australia is pleased to endorse the Charter for Disability Inclusion in Humanitarian Action and commit to practical action towards its implementation.

We share with you all here today a commitment to placing all people – including people with disabilities – at the centre of humanitarian action.

As a party to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Australia is committed to ensuring that development and humanitarian efforts are inclusive of people with disabilities.

Our disability strategy for the Australian aid program emphasises the need for people with disabilities to be participants in and supported by development and humanitarian action.

Australia advocates for the protection of people with disabilities, as reflected in our Protection in Humanitarian Action Framework.

We commit to working with international and regional partners to promote policy and practice to improve disability inclusion in humanitarian action.

For example, through the Women’s Refugee Commission and other partners, we will financially support the development of globally endorsed guidelines on the inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action.

Australia will commit resources to support people with disabilities to gain greater independence and inclusion in their communities. This includes through support to the International Committee for the Red Cross Special Fund for the Disabled to support physical rehabilitation for people with disabilities in post-conflict environments.

We will work with partners to implement gender-sensitive humanitarian programming, recognising the additional risk of physical, sexual and other forms of violence facing women and girls with disabilities.

Australia will support work to strengthen data collection and analysis prior, during and after situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, to better track and improve the situation of people with disabilities.

We will also continue to promote participation of people with disabilities and their representative organisations as active participants in planning, implementation and reconstruction efforts.

Australia looks forward to working with partner governments and organisations to deliver on our shared commitment to ‘leave no one behind’ in humanitarian action.